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The SUV body style is the one most customers want these days – but the German car giant has expressed no intention to ditch lower-slung vehicle shapes, station wagons included.
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Station wagons are enjoying a resurgence – at least in some markets – according to the designer leading the styling of the next generation of BMWs.
BMW Neue Klasse design chief Oliver Heilmer has assured there remains a place for conventionally-shaped, low-slung cars in the German car giant's line-up, and they won't be pushed out by the growth of SUVs.
"Different markets are reacting differently to proportions," Heilmer told Australian media at the Munich motor show earlier this month.
"For instance, now what we discovered is that the station wagon in the US is becoming more popular, and then we are reacting on it, which is fine."
Much of the resurgence in US wagon sales has been seen at the higher end of the market, where the latest, plug-in hybrid M5 Touring returned BMW to the sector after the re-introduction of the Audi RS6 Avant in 2020, and continual generations of Mercedes-AMG E63 wagons.
In Australia, BMW sold nearly as many of the smaller M3 Touring (310) last year as its all-wheel-drive, automatic sedan equivalent (342), though it excludes a further 57 manual M3 sedans.
It's in addition to continued demand for wagons in Europe – especially BMW's home of Germany.
Sedans are also here to stay as part of the 40 new model variants BMW has promised to launch in the next two years, as part of the 'Neue Klasse' overhaul of its model range, commenced with the iX3 electric SUV shown in Munich.
"The sedan is an interesting one because, a couple of years ago, you might have thought 'well, the sedan is something that might disappear'," said Heilmer.
"But it's quite stable, to be honest, and where we are setting a statement. We did it with the Vision [concept] cars already, we said, well, BMW is standing for sedans – a small, sporty, elegant mid-size sedan is the core of the brand, and it's something that we don't want to lose.
"This is something that will remain because, at the end, it's about confidence, in terms of brand confidence.
"The bigger risk we see is if we are going to copy something that is trending at the moment, the risk is high that we are losing part of our ... DNA."
Due to follow the iX3 is an electric i3 sedan, which reports indicate will be offered in a Touring wagon body style – alongside M high-performance, quad-motor versions of all three vehicles.
In keeping body styles favoured by BMW traditionalists, Heilmer laid the groundwork for more restrained styling on future models from the German car giant, following more polarising vehicles such as the latest M3.
"We had a lot of nice conversations with customers. For instance, when we introduced the M3 kidneys – the vertical ones – there was a lot of discussion [online], we know that, but the customers ... really appreciated that differentiation.
"... In terms of that time where we [were], it was the right approach, but time is changing, you know – everything is becoming more calm.
"Especially here ... talking about an expressive car, as you see it here, it doesn't have to be too much in your face in terms of expression, it can be way more subtle – and that's maybe the era where we are in from a BMW perspective."
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Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
